CHILD ABUSE

I. Introduction

Child abuse is a very real and prominent social problem today. The impact of child abuse affects
more than ones childhood, as the psychological and physical injuries often extend well into
adulthood. Most children are defenseless against abuse, are dependent on their caretakers, and
are unable to protect themselves from these acts.

Childhood serves as the basis for growth, development, and socialization. Throughout
adolescence, children are taught how to become productive and positive, functioning members
of society. Much of the socializing of children, particularly in their very earliest years, comes at
the hands of family members. Unfortunately, the messages conveyed to and the actions against
children by their families are not always the positive building blocks for which one would hope.

In 2008, the Childrens Defense Fund reported that each day in America, 2,421 children are
confirmed as abused or neglected, 4 children are killed by abuse or neglect, and 78 babies die
before their first birthday. These daily estimates translate into tremendous national figures. In
2006, caseworkers substantiated an estimated 905,000 reports of child abuse or neglect. Of
these, 64% suffered neglect, 16% were physically abused, 9% were sexually abused, 7% were
emotionally or psychologically maltreated, and 2% were medically neglected. In addition, 15%
of the victims experienced other types of maltreatment such as abandonment, threats of
harm to the child, and congenital drug addiction (National Child Abuse and Neglect Data
System, 2006). Obviously, this problem is a substantial one.

II. Estimates of Child Abuse: Methodological Limitations

Several issues arise when considering the amount of child abuse that occurs annually in the
United States. Child abuse is very hard to estimate because much (or most) of it is not reported.
Children who are abused are unlikely to report their victimization because they may not know
any better, they still love their abusers and do not want to see them taken away (or do not
themselves want to be taken away from their abusers), they have been threatened into not
reporting, or they do not know to whom they should report their victimizations. Still further,
children may report their abuse only to find the person to whom they report does not believe
them or take any action on their behalf. Continuing to muddy the waters, child abuse can be
disguised as legitimate injury, particularly because young children are often somewhat
uncoordinated and are still learning to accomplish physical tasks, may not know their physical
limitations, and are often legitimately injured during regular play. In the end, children rarely
report child abuse; most often it is an adult who makes a report based on suspicion (e.g.,
teacher, counselor, doctor, etc.).

Even when child abuse is reported, social service agents and investigators may not follow up or
substantiate reports for a variety of reasons. Parents can pretend, lie, or cover up injuries or
stories of how injuries occurred when social service agents come to investigate. Further, there is
not always agreement about what should be counted as abuse by service providers and
researchers. In addition, social service agencies/agents have huge caseloads and may only be
able to deal with the most serious forms of child abuse, leaving the more minor forms of
abuse unsupervised and unmanaged (and uncounted in the statistical totals).